Empire and Napoleon were pretty fun, but Rome is still the best! Excited to be setting cold steel against cold steel again, and hoping this one will finally surpass the pure epic awesomeness that was Rome: Total War!

Lost In The Void:So I'm excited as hell for this one, still trying to find a copy of the first since my copy went missing years ago. Anyone know where I can find it?

You should look for something called Total War: Eras. It's a bundle with the first three games and their expansions, including the DLC Alexander campaign for Rome. It can be hard to find but if you check Ebay, etc. you can probably turn up a copy.

Yep, anyone buying a Creative Assembly Game on release is either a masochist or a sucker.

And I am still butthurt over Empire: Total War missing the mark, being so amazingly buggy, causing save corrupts and missing features advertised on the back of the damn box... and then failing to deliver on stable and dynamic multiplayer (What the fuck do you mean auto resolve the battle?) or how Napolean: Total Wars solution to fixing bugs was to cut out the content and features that didn't work, with a hacksaw.

I may pick up Shogun 2 when its had 6 months to a year of Patches and if CA prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are going to stand buy this product instead of announcing "Lu Bu: Total War" 6 months after launch which comprises little more than bug fixes and content cut from Shogun 2.

Oh and if they don't continuously bug me for $10 like a crack whore at a train station, pestering me to buy their reskin DLC every time I load up the game.

I love Total War, but the business model that was used after Medieval 2 is deplorable.

So, fuck yeah, I'm going to pre order this the moment I can. Just playing through Empire right now, will probably pick up Napoleon at some point this year. Also, Rome total War, that's how I got started, and I will always love it. Always. Probably going to play it again soon.

If past Total War titles are anything to go by, we can expect some of the following in Shogun 2:

1. Atrocious battle AI. I think CA has consistently dropped the ball on this with every game they made since Medieval 1. Promises and claims are made of a great and challenging battle AI, but it always just makes really terrible decisions in response to player maneuvers, and becomes a predictable opponent after two battles of each scenario. Raising the "AI difficulty" setting only meant giving the CPU unfair advantages.

2. No multiplayer campaign. It's been promised since Rome: Total War. 'Nuff said.

3. Terrible historical gaffes, from the embarrassing depictions of Egypt, Germany and Gaul in Rome TW, to having the St. Petersburg Winter Palace be built in Moscow in Empire TW, to including some inane, stupidly inspired soldier concepts that never debuted into history (Gaelic head hurlers, Roman battle ninjas, and freaking invisible Indian commandos). I bet we're going to see battlefield ninjas or some stupid shit like that in Shogun 2.

4. Comedic siege battles, as since Rome: Total War, they were broken. In Medieval 2, it was nearly impossible to assault a fortified city and win, due to the potency of automatically fired arrows from city walls. In Empire and Napoleon, they were impossible to defend without laughing. The fort gates would open right up and let the enemy in without them having to take the walls; the AI would bring an army that consists of 80% cavalry, which stand outside the fort looking confused until the timer runs out; soldiers that never fire off the walls when they face an enemy; soldiers that would immediately lose all fighting skill because they are on the wall; soldiers that could not find their way up or down a climbing rope.

One question I want to see answered is this. Will it require Steam? I want to know if it will be a Steam Only game, you know one of the ones where even if you buy it at the store you're forced to use the Steam Launcher even for single player. That's always kind of a deal breaker with me now, it's the only reason I'm not buying Civ V

3. Terrible historical gaffes, from the embarrassing depictions of Egypt, Germany and Gaul in Rome TW, to having the St. Petersburg Winter Palace be built in Moscow in Empire TW, to including some inane, stupidly inspired soldier concepts that never debuted into history (Gaelic head hurlers, Roman battle ninjas, and freaking invisible Indian commandos). I bet we're going to see battlefield ninjas or some stupid shit like that in Shogun 2.

LMAO Maybe they'll go all Dynasty Warriors on us and give us a super powered magic wielding emperor with a big gut and a 500 lb sword who can slay entire armies. I wouldn't mind so much if they didn't present it as history, with the offensive and ridiculous depictions I've been seeing since RTW I half suspect they'll give us Kamakazi Ninja Warriors who fly in on hang gliders and blow themselves up.